SIWO Forecast – Friday, April 24, 2026

Assessment of Current Ice Conditions Relevant to Distribution and Access of Walrus

Synopsis: A series of lows will be moving north across the Bering, bringing periods of gusty winds and a gradual warming trend through the weekend. The first low is already producing areas of gusty winds between 35 and 45 kts, as well as some moderate precipitation. This is resulting in occasional blizzard conditions. Temperatures will warm up behind a front that moves over St. Lawrence Island and the Seward Peninsula, resulting in a warming trend over the next couple of days. As the low continues to shift NW, another round of gusty easterly winds are likely on Thursday with speeds up to 40 kts over St. Lawrence Island and 25 kts over the NW Seward Peninsula. Winds will become more static by the weekend as the low quickly fills in. Another low will be moving across the Aleutians and set up in the southern Bering, getting blocked by an area of high pressure building over the Arctic. This will result in another round of gusty, NE winds by Sunday afternoon with gusts up to 35 kts over St. Lawrence Island and up to 20 kts over the NW Seward Peninsula. Winds will gradually weaken through the start of the next week as this second low weakens.

Near St. Lawrence Island

Continued northerly winds have brought consolidated and compact pack ice to the north side of St. Lawrence Island, which is flowing around both the east and west sides. That pack ice has been upgraded to include some first-year thick ice (>47 in). The northerly winds have also opened a polynya that begins just south of Gambell and stretches around the entire south and southeast portion of the island. Despite the increasing daylight, the air mass has been cold enough to freeze the polynya further offshore and develop both new and young ice. Shorefast ice has remained intact most everywhere, though there has been some sections of the outer shorefast ice east of Siknik Training Camp that have broken off and look more unstable in the satellite imagery.

Nome

This area has not yet begun for the 2026 season..

Brevig Mission/Port Clarence Area

This area has not yet begun for the 2026 season.

Wales to Shishmaref

While northerly winds are keeping compacted and consolidated ice 50 to 80 miles off the coast of Shishmaref, the last easterly wind event showed a fair amount of developing leads and cracks within the ice pack despite the ice overall not moving much at all. The shorefast ice within 10 miles of the coast between Wales and Shishmaref appears to remain stable and intact.

Diomede

This area has not yet begun for the 2026 season.

Forecast Discussion

Ice Forecast

St. Lawrence Island:

Southeasterly winds are going to change the orientation of polynyas around the islands through Saturday. Expect polynyas to open along the west and north sides of the island. The shorefast ice in these areas should remain stable, but with offshore winds, the probability of shorefast breakoff is low but not zero. The first year medium and thick ice will be pushed away from Gambell and replaced with new and young ice currently south of the island. The first-year medium/thick ice southwest of the island will be pushed against the southeast side of the island.

Next week the predominant easterly winds will keep a small polynya along both the south and north sides of the Island with a large polynya along the west side. First-year medium and thick ice will be compacted against the shorefast ice along the east side of the island.

Wales to Shishmaref:

Easterly winds will likely disrupt the compact and consolidated ice offshore through the weekend, opening up leads and moving it to the west. The shorefast ice will likely remain intact with these winds, however, the probability of shorefast breaking off is not zero with the offshore winds.

Wind Synopsis

St. Lawrence Island:

Winds weaken to around 20 kts, shifting out of the SE, by late Thursday night/early Friday morning. Winds will gradually weaken throughout the weekend, remaining out of the E/SE. Gusty winds return early Sunday (4/26), out of the NE, with potential gusts between 25 and 35 kts. Winds will weaken back to around 20 kts by Monday (4/27) with winds remaining out of the E/NE through the mid-week.

Wales to Shish:

Winds weaken to 10 to 15 kts, shifting out of the SE, by late Thursday night/early Friday morning. Winds will gradually weaken throughout the weekend, remaining out of the S/SE. Gusty winds return Sunday afternoon (4/26), out of the E/NE, with potential gusts between 15 and 20 kts. Winds will weaken back to 10 kts, or less, by Monday (4/27) with winds remaining out of the E/NE through the mid-week.

Temperature Trend

St. Lawrence Island:

Thursday (4/23), temperatures will warm to the mid 30s for high temperatures with lows around 30 degrees. This trend will continue for the next several days into next week.

Wales to Shishmaref:

Temperatures will warm Thursday (4/23) with highs in the mid 30s and overnight lows in the upper 20s. This trend will continue for the next several days into next week.

Daily Weather, Wind, and Temperature Updates

The National Weather Service provides twice-daily, text only updates on the weather, wind, and temperature conditions in specific geographical zones. An interactive weather map for access to other Alaskan zones can be found here: http://weather.gov/anchorage/ice

Higher resolution satellite images and wind maps (wind updated daily) can be viewed here: http://www.weather.gov/afg/SIWO_overview

The Alaska Ocean Observing System shares a variety of weather and sea ice related resources in their Bering Sea Portal at https://bering-sea.portal.aoos.org/.

NWS Sea Ice Forecast Maps

Marine forecast for the West Coast and Arctic Coast

Remote Sensing Images

Observations & Comments

Observations of Local Conditions

Observations from Sivuqaq / Gambell

Tuesday, 21 April 2026 – Clarence Irrigoo, Jr.

16° NE 15 mph, still winter storm watch. Looks like herd of walrus on ice (see photo).

6:22 p.m. update: Wind picking up here. We have blizzard warning 4 a.m. gust to 65 mph.

Friday, 24 April 2026 – Clarence Irrigoo, Jr.

6:22 p.m. update: Wind picking up here. We have blizzard warning 4 a.m. gust to 65 mph.

Sunday, 26 April 2026 – Clarence Irrigoo, Jr.

32° NE 30mph, snow and rain. Boat that went out yesterday got a baby walrus.

Sea ice and weather conditions near Gambell, AK. Images courtesy of Clarence Irrigoo, Jr.

Observations from Sivungaq / Savoonga

Tuesday, 21 April 2026  – Aqef Waghiyi

No open water in front of Savoonga. Light breeze from northeast at 20 knots 18°F today. Starting to snow lightly.

Friday, 24 April 2026 – Aqef Waghiyi

Open water little breezy from southeast at 20 knots. Hopefully tomorrow people well go boating if its good out. View Aqef’s video on YouTube. 

Observations from Kingigin / Wales

Observations from Kigiktaq / Shishmaref

Observations from Sitnasuaq / Nome

Sea ice and weather conditions near Nome, AK. Images courtesy of Bivers Gologergen.

Shared by the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) for 22 – 30 April 2026

The images below show animations of the movement of ice predicted by the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). Snapshots from the forecast show ice coverage from 0% (black) to 100% (white) and arrows show the relative speed and direction of the ice. A light boundary is drawn at 15% predicted ice cover to highlight the ice edge, but ice may be predicted to extend beyond it. Some bays, lagoons, and areas very close to shore are not covered by the model. (Image produced by the Alaska Ocean Observing System / Axiom Data Science).

These animations show the predicted movement of ice predicted by the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). Snapshots from the forecast show ice coverage from 0% (black) to 100% (white) and arrows show the relative speed and direction of the ice. A light boundary is drawn at 15% predicted ice cover to highlight the ice edge, but ice may be predicted to extend beyond it. Some bays, lagoons, and areas very close to shore are not covered by the model. (Image produced by the Alaska Ocean Observing System / Axiom Data Science)